Oh my! It does appear we went on strike right? Make una no vex. Na condition eh! Ok… ok… ok… to make up for lost time, thought to share something finger-licking good yet simple to create. And who better to put it all together and very nicely too than our very own… wait for it… Chef Dakkie!

It was so much fun ‘hooking up online’ again to put this together and she came through for us… thumps up girl!

In culinary school Chef, Dakkie was so obsessed with all things Caprese salad, ask her why? She’d say: “I don’t know…hahahaha”. Based on this obsession, she decided to put together a wonderful tart inspired by the humble Caprese salad. It’s super easy to make, and since we do not want you stressing yourself going through the process of making the pastry, you can just easily buy it from the supermarket.

Before you start, here are a few key things to note when making the tart:

• Blind baking of your tart is very essential. Trust me, you do not want a soggy bottom. You blind bake by filling foil paper with either ceramic baking beans or just beans. You are essentially creating a pouch heavy enough to make sure the dough does not rise in the oven. Make sure you use enough foil paper so that you can easily remove it once you are done blind baking.

• When your pastry is done blind baking, you should be able to remove the foil pouch effortlessly. If the dough still clings to the foil, leave it in the oven for a little longer.

• You can substitute the shortcrust pastry for puff pastry if you want a flaky, buttery tart shell.

• Eat it while it’s hot unless you’ll have to contend with the mozzarella. We all know the gooey awesomeness of mozzarella on a pizza once it is out of the oven. That is what you’re looking for with your tart. If you let your mozzarella get cold, it will set and you will basically have rubber for food.

• With the addition of caramelized onions, your tart is going to be very sweet, so it is very important you season your tomatoes with salt and black pepper, to have other flavors but sweet in the mix.

Now on to the recipe.

Time: 1 hour

Difficulty: Easy

Serving: 3 – 4

Ingredients

• 50g Mozzarella: slices

• 4 Cherry tomatoes; sliced and season with salt and ground black pepper

• Basil leavesS

Shortcrust Pastry

• 188g Cake flour

• 94g Butter or margarine, cubed

• 4g Salt

• 35g Ice-cold water

Caramelized Onion

• 2tbsp Olive oil

• 1 Large onion (either brown or red); thinly sliced

• 1tbsp Brown sugar

• 2tbsp Balsamic vinegar.

Directions

• Pre-heat the oven to 180◦C.

• Sift the flour and the salt. Rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips. When done, the mixture should resemble breadcrumbs and there should be no traces of butter visible.

• Stir in the cold water, a little at a time. You need just enough water to incorporate the flour and butter into a dough. Once the dough comes together, flatten to a disc, wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes. While the paste is in the fridge, make the caramelized onions.

• Heat the oil in a large frypan over low heat. Add the onions and a good pinch of salt and cook very slowly for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent them from burning. Don’t be tempted to turn the heat up, as you don’t want the onions to burn.

• When onions are softened and are golden, add sugar and balsamic vinegar – this will start the caramelization process. Cook onions over low heat for another 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until sticky and caramelised.

• Now that the dough is well rested, roll it out till it’s 1 mm thick. Cut out rings that will fit into your pie tins. Grease the pie tin and line it with the shortcrust pastry. Place the dough in the fridge for another 20 minutes.

• Blind bake the pastry to par-cook it and prevent shrinkage. Blind bake for 10 – 15 minutes.

• Once this is done, you can start assembling your tart.

• Firstly, place the caramelized onions then add the mozzarella cheese slices, of course, the amount is up to you. Bake in the oven till cheese has melted, this should take about 10 – 15 minutes.

• As soon as the cheese is melted, top with your cherry tomatoes and basil and Voila! You have a scrumptious Caprese salad and caramelized onion tart!!

Aaaah…! Do I hear you smirking those lips? Yaay! After all, the good book says the expectation of the righteous shall not be cut short. I hope you every little bit of this. Don’t worry… no one is looking… so feel free to scrape that little piece left in the plate. Feels good right?